


genuine feeling

by Aslee



Series: shadowhunters' missing malec scenes [1]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: 1.07, Drabble, M/M, Missing Scene, i am a pretentious little shit honestly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-24
Updated: 2016-02-24
Packaged: 2018-05-23 00:31:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6098979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aslee/pseuds/Aslee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>We didn't get to see them say goodbye. </p><p>or: </p><p>The urge stops the words in Alec's throat, and Magnus picks up the conversation again as if Alec had never dropped it. "I thought I might... keep you for a little while longer."</p>
            </blockquote>





	genuine feeling

**Author's Note:**

> title from a oscar wilde quote about bad poetry; look at all this purple prose.

"Leaving so soon?" 

Alec jumps guiltily at the sound of Magnus' voice, his fingers brushing against the brightwork knob. "Ah." He turns, a practiced but still off-center swing of his body, the kind of clumsy that only seems to tangle Alec up in the warmth of Magnus' attention. 

He dares to let his eyes glance down from the bleached fringe of Magnus' quiff into the deep brown of the warlock's eyes: That is Alec's first mistake. As always, teasing sparkles in them, but the melancholy that crept out from its cage the night before still lingered. It made Alec's chest go tight in the most ridiculous of ways; Here was a man that had lived thousands of years, had fought for almost as many, and Alec wanted to throw away so much to protect him from all that bittersweet. 

Even more ridiculously, he wanted to stumble into Magnus' arms and let himself be protected. 

The urge stops the words in Alec's throat, and Magnus picks up the conversation again as if Alec had never dropped it. "I thought I might... keep you for a little while longer." 

And there's an edge there that says Magnus knows he's already been given more than he asked, more than Alec had ever imagined he could give, but that it won't stop him from wanting. The sharpness of the syllables don't stop Alec from wanting to give it to him. 

"Jace is waiting for me," Alec says, and hates himself for it the minute Magnus' mouth goes tight in the corners. Hates himself because for all he thinks he can finally breathe in Jace's shadow, he still can't just forget the years of emotion that drag at his lungs. 

He would not leave the sweetness of Magnus' smile for any less. 

Still, he tries to make it better. "He'll have the girl- Clary, I mean, back at the Institute, soon. With the Cup. And I- I should- It's my Institute." And for all it is still true, it rings false. Alec Lightwood is little more than a sacrificial lamb these days, it seems. 

"Nephilim and their overinflated sense of duty," Magnus says with a little eye roll. "Still, the cat will miss you." 

This is the Magnus that Alec wants to live for, the one that makes the grin break across his face before Alec can even think to stop it. "Tell him goodbye for me, and that I... I'll talk to him later." A pause. "Without the dying werewolf this time." 

Magnus huffs, rolling up the sleeves of his dressing gown. "You couldn't afford a second session. Now-" His eyes dart away, and Alec watches him slip into affected nonchalance as simply as he did the silks. "Go away before I have to charge you my hourly." 

Alec ducks his head, grin widening, before turning back and slipping out the door. As he takes the first step, he can hear Magnus's voice behind him, so steady and deep he almost stops to stay. 

"Goodbye, Alexander."

**Author's Note:**

> writing blog on tumblr @nixcarraway, personal blog @grandwretch. 
> 
> i swear to god i'm working on the hartwin fic.


End file.
